CARDIFF CITY defender Gary Croft last night looked ahead to Saturday's reunion with his former club Ipswich Town and admitted, "It would be extra special to win this match."

CARDIFF CITY defender Gary Croft last night looked ahead to Saturday's reunion with his former club Ipswich Town and admitted, "It would be extra special to win this match."

Croft - fresh from playing a key role in Tuesday's 1-1 draw against West Bromwich Albion - is relishing facing the Tractor Boys for the first time since escaping a nightmare spell at the club in July 2002.

The 29-year-old full-back has rebuilt his career at Ninian Park after being frozen out of the first-team picture by George Burley at Ipswich.

Burley has since been replaced in the Portman Road hot-seat by Joe Royle and Croft insists settling old scores won't be on his agenda when Ipswich arrive in South Wales for the Division One clash.

But he admits that victory against his former employers would nonetheless give him particular satisfaction.

"It goes without saying that I want to play well against Ipswich and it's one game I want to win," said Croft.

"It's been well-documented that I wasn't given as many games there as I would have liked and it would be nice to put that to bed.

"Ipswich have got a different manager now so it's not a personal thing.

"And I'm not going to approach the game differently to any other.

"But a win against them would be extra special. I know a lot of the players there and I'd love to get a result."

Croft joined Ipswich from Blackburn in September 1999 and helped the Suffolk club win promotion to the Premier League that season.

But he became a forgotten man at Portman Road, making just eight top-flight appearances in 2000-01 and being frozen out altogether the following season.

Croft was dispatched on loan to Wigan in January 2002 and then Cardiff in March 2002 before making a permanent switch to Ninian Park four months later.

And it is not lost on Croft that, whereas he had to drop down two divisions when he first joined Cardiff, Lennie Lawrence's side are now one place above Ipswich in Division One in sixth.

"Funny how things turn out," he said. "Considering that not so long ago Cardiff were two levels below Ipswich, it's nice we go into this match on a level footing.

"And it doesn't surprise me that we're doing so well. I think we're one of the better footballing sides in the division and, crucially, we're picking up results too."

Robert Earnshaw is another man keen to inflict defeat on Ipswich since he will be out to score his 100th Cardiff goal. "Let's hope Earnie does it," said Croft. "It would be a fantastic achievement."